Tokyo Olympics: Ollie Wynne-Griffith's rowing bronze ends 89-year family medal wait
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Tokyo Olympics: GB's men's eight crew win bronze in 'incredible' final
Tokyo Olympic Games on the BBC |
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Dates: 23 July-8 August Time in Tokyo: BST +8 |
Coverage: Watch live on BBC TV, BBC iPlayer, BBC Red Button and online; Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live, Sports Extra and Sounds; live text and video clips on BBC Sport website and app. |
Ollie Wynne-Griffith's Olympic rowing bronze as part of Team GB's men's eight crew was not only a huge personal achievement but also created family history after a near miss 89 years ago.
His great-grandfather, Harold Rickett, rowed in the men's eight at the 1932 Olympics and finished fourth.
Now the family can celebrate a medal after the GB eight was pipped to silver by Germany as New Zealand took gold.
"It feels quite emotional for me," said the 27-year-old Welshman.
"My great-grandfather rowed in the men's eight at the '32 Olympics and came fourth, so it's quite nice to get on the other side of that result for a bit of family history.
"Just getting to the pinnacle of sport, getting to the Olympic Games is an achievement in itself, to stand on the medal podium is an even bigger achievement.
"It's quite an emotional moment. You try not to think about that moment through your training - just focus on the process and stuff - but once it comes upon you you're not really sure how you're going to react... it's a very sweet moment for us."
The British men's eight crew were well placed at the halfway stage of the 2,000m race, before New Zealand took control with 500m left.
Germany proved just too strong in the final stages to hold off the British crew of Wynne-Griffith, Moe Sbihi, Tom Ford, Josh Bugajski, Jacob Dawson, Tom George, Charles Elwes and James Rudkin - plus cox Harry Fieldman - who had to settle for bronze.
Although the top prize had eluded them, the bronze is a very tangible reward for the crew's sacrifices to prepare for the Tokyo regatta.
"It's huge. The amount of things you've missed - birthdays, weddings, funerals - all these things that go by the wayside, especially this year with the pandemic and the bubbling and having to isolate, and just be accountable to live up to your crewmates' expectations and set the example," Wynne-Griffith told BBC Sport Wales.
"You're carrying their dreams as much as you're carrying yours, so that's been really, really special."
Wynne-Griffith also paid tribute to crewmate and fellow Welshman Bugajski, who would have missed the Tokyo Olympics if they had not been postponed for a year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Bugajski was suffering with damaged nerves in his shoulder but fought back to win a place in the British eight for 2021.
"Josh was injured last year so wasn't selected in the crew that would have gone, so I can't believe the world he put himself in to get himself back, get the shoulder ready," Wynne-Griffith said.
"This is the culmination of all those hard hours and what we've done in the darkness of our own garden sheds and living rooms last year."
Bugajski admitted that winning bronze was bitter-sweet, but that finishing third was still an incredible achievement.
"It's kind of tough because we came here to get a gold medal but at the same time I'm really happy and proud," Bugajski said.
"I think we put our best foot forward in that race and if I'm honest I couldn't have done anything more and I think everyone in the boat said the same, we did everything we could have done and we got the result we got.
"The Kiwis were very, very fast and so were the Germans, so we just had to take our hats off to them and make the most of the moment really.
"We all talk about it being the culmination of four or five years of work but the reality for me is it's 11 years of work. I haven't really taken much of a holiday in that period of 11 years and I know the guys in the boat all have similar length careers, in fact some longer.
"A lot has gone into this: thousands and thousands and thousands of early mornings, probably millions of strokes... it's mind-boggling how much work goes into it. Once all that's done you just need to be proud of what we've achieved.
"The Paris cycle has already started now so we'll take some time to relax, take some time off seeing family and friends, and in a few months we'll come back together and we'll be focused again on building up for the next Olympics."
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